Here's another article on Australian Police attitudes towards motorcyclists by Mr Boris Mihailovic,first published in A.M.C.N(Australian Motorcycle News)and reposted here with his permission.You can get in touch with him at amcn@acpmagazines.com.au or www.bikeme.tv

THE ATTITUDE TEST

Following on from my last column where I made the observation that the police have failed, epically and miserably, in the way they deal with motorcyclists, I would now like you all to consider the implications of the infamous “Attitude Test” we are all subjected to each time we are pulled over.What’s that? You haven’t heard of this test? You must be new.The Attitude Test is what the police subject every one of us to the second we have been blue-lighted to the side of the road. The police themselves openly (albeit privately) admit to the existence of the Attitude Test – and I do wonder if any of the cops reading this will be brave enough to come forward and admit, in print and with their name attached, that this is indeed the case.

Because this test is very important. Everything that happens after you have been stopped on the side of the road by the Highway Patrol is a direct result of you passing or failing this Attitude Test.If your offence has been downgraded to less than 20km/h over the posted limit even though you were banging along at 130km/h, then you have passed the attitude test. You ate the required amount of shit, grovelled at the feet of the policeman and appeared, in his opinion, suitably contrite and chastened.If, on the other hand, you got done for every kilometre over the limit that you were doing, got defected for your pipes, rego holder and tail tidy, and have been issued with enough fines to buy yourself a brace of top-end Las vegas hookers and a pound of blow, then you have manifestly failed the Attitude Test.

Cool, huh?Apparently, there exists an iron-clad view in our various police forces that your attitude to being pulled over (often for no reason whatsoever) directly affects what happens next. There is no mention of their attitude. It is as if they are somehow beyond displaying common courtesy and good manners to someone who has breached some aspect of the Motor Traffic Act. After all, you’ve pulled me over for a licence check, or that noxious bullshit known as a Random Breath Test (which we all know is not random and is not remotely connected with the chance that I’ve improbably imbibed alcohol at seven in the morning on the Snowy Mountains Highway) – it’s not like I’ve just robbed a bank or murdered a family.

Is it so wrong to expect you to call me “Sir”? Is it unrealistic to anticipate some manners and courtesy from you? Why is it that police in every other First World country are unfailingly polite to the people they are dealing with, and you pack of paramilitary zealots seem to think that we, the public you are sworn to protect, have to pass some kind of bullshit Attitude Test on the side of the road for some chickenshit statutory offence? Show me where this is legislated. Direct me to the section of the Motor Traffic Act that declares I have to whimper like a cur at the feet of its master because you’ve got nothing better to do than check to see if my licence is current.

And then you, your commanding generals, and your disgusting Police Unions have the unmitigated gall to demand ever more coercive powers, because for reasons that are somehow lost on you intellectual giants, the public thinks you’re all nothing but a pack of capering power-mad fascists, and refuses to co-operate with you.I know for a fact that the general duties cops try very hard to distance themselves from the shaved apes in the Highway Patrol, referring to them as “cockroaches”. And it is also a fact that general duties police are, for the most part, quite reasonable and well-mannered in their interactions with the public. But the trouble is that most people do not differentiate between the Highway Patrol and the general duties crowd. All it takes is for Joe Ulysses to have a few negative experiences with some jumped-up stormtrooper in his candy-coloured V8 and you can bet big dollars that that same Joe will not be very forthcoming when the cops are looking for help in finding some real bad guys.

Can you see how all this works?But never let it be said that I offer no solution to this distressing state of affairs. I’m all for an Attitude Test. But how about you, the Highway Patrol officer, pass my Attitude Test? How about you call me “Sir” instead of “Boris”? We are not mates and we certainly aren’t ever going to be on some mutual first-name thing, are we? Cut the totalitarian master-slave bullshit out of your dealings with motorcyclists. Save it for your missus or your police piss-ups, where you all sway around and bemoan your lot in life and the scum you have to police.Remember that that scum pays for you to exist, and that scum expects its police to be professional, polite and well-mannered.And don’t tell me that is too much to ask.

Some cops are idiots. Some riders are idiots. Stereotypes run both ways. So does luck.

I try to keep within the "spirit" of the law (speed of traffic, legal bike, proper documents on-board) and be polite. Usually it works, and usually the police are professional. It's true that they really want us to respect their authority, but most will be polite when you treat them well. That doesn't mean you have to suck up, but being honest and demonstrating cooperation helps.

Experience and training mean that cops make quick judgements. When I was 18 I got a ticket every time I was pulled over. Since I hit 35 I've been pulled over 4 times and had 0 tickets. Sure, the way I look and the bike I ride probably have something to do with it, but I've learned a few things over the years too.

I passed a police car the other day and noticed that the driver was out of his car and screaming at the cop while waving his hands and walking toward her. She had her hand on her weapon and three other cars were screaming down the highway to help her out. They have a tough job.

Some cops are idiots. Some riders are idiots. Stereotypes run both ways. So does luck.

I try to keep within the "spirit" of the law (speed of traffic, legal bike, proper documents on-board) and be polite. Usually it works, and usually the police are professional. It's true that they really want us to respect their authority, but most will be polite when you treat them well. That doesn't mean you have to suck up, but being honest and demonstrating cooperation helps.

Experience and training mean that cops make quick judgements. When I was 18 I got a ticket every time I was pulled over. Since I hit 35 I've been pulled over 4 times and had 0 tickets. Sure, the way I look and the bike I ride probably have something to do with it, but I've learned a few things over the years too.I passed a police car the other day and noticed that the driver was out of his car and screaming at the cop while waving his hands and walking toward her. She had her hand on her weapon and three other cars were screaming down the highway to help her out. They have a tough job.

The wife and I saw the same type of thing between Roundup and Grassrange - envision forty miles with maybe three or four sets of ranch buildings visible from the road. A patrolman had stopped a woman, both were standing by her car. She was jumping and waving her arms around, obviously screaming at him. As we went by she jumped up at him and slammed her chest against him. I probably should have stopped, but didn't. Some miles further she passed us, must have been doing 100 mph or more.

I haven't had lot of tickets over the years, but only once ran into an HP that was anything but polite. And several have merely given me the slow down sign as I met them.

The wife and I saw the same type of thing between Roundup and Grassrange - envision forty miles with maybe three or four sets of ranch buildings visible from the road. A patrolman had stopped a woman, both were standing by her car. She was jumping and waving her arms around, obviously screaming at him. As we went by she jumped up at him and slammed her chest against him. I probably should have stopped, but didn't. Some miles further she passed us, must have been doing 100 mph or more.

I haven't had lot of tickets over the years, but only once ran into an HP that was anything but polite. And several have merely given me the slow down sign as I met them.

As high school kid on the way to visit U of I for a weekend with my high school girlfriend in the car, I was going at a spirited pace with passing requiring lane changes fairly often (lots of left lane parkers...) in a cavalier convertible, top up.

I get pulled over, and the officer immediately says, "Why are you driving like such an asshole?"

My smart-ass response, as I'm handing my license and insurance out the window, before being asked - "Officer, I may have been speeding, but could you refrain from the foul language? There's a lady in the car."

Somehow, I said it with a straight face and ended up with a warning.

It's all in the attitude, and its not a test. Treat those in the way you wish to be treated. Period. Cops deal with assholes all day - it's refreshing for them to deal with nice people who aren't trying to feed them a load of shit.

Another time, I was going 83 in a 45, drove right past a police car parked on the side of the road (north bound LSD, just north of Soldier Field for those in the know - well known speed trap), saw it pull into traffic, and I immediately pulled over.

He pulls behind me, walks up to the car and says, "Why did you pull over?"

I say, "Well, I saw you on the side of the road, I looked at my speedometer and saw that I was going 83. I figured you were pulling me over, so I stopped as soon as I saw you pulling off the side of the road."

He nodded his head at me with a kind of puzzled look in his eye, seeing I already had my license and insurance in my hands, said, "slow down" and walked back to his car. Never even asked for my ID.